Research has found that kudzu can help improve insulin sensitivity, which can help regulate blood sugar levels. Additionally, kudzu may help reduce inflammation, which is often a contributing factor to the development of type 2 diabetes. He worked for many years in mental health and substance abuse facilities in Florida, as well as in home health (medical and psychiatric), and took care of people with medical and addictions problems at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He has a nursing and business/technology degrees from The Johns Hopkins University. The objective of this review is to correlate the possible treatments that cause a response to cravings, as well as to promote abstinence. We found that, on average, each person consumed 7 units of alcohol after the placebo and, on average, 5.5 units after the kudzu.
The ultimate role that natural preparations play will be complementary and might be useful in treating drug withdrawal and possibly relapse (Lu et al., 2009). While the blood flow theory of kudzu for alcoholism may be true, there is likely more going on here. Kudzu contains several active isoflavones, which are natural plant chemicals with antioxidant effects. This compound has a positive effect on the central nervous system and the brain. If you’re looking for kudzu to reduce cravings for alcohol, it’its root extract, specifically’is most often sold in tablet form for this purpose. You can purchase kudzu root extract in dissolvable form’including in tea bags’that can be added to soups or other dishes.
Side Effects
Through this mechanism, Gabapentin selectively inhibits the influx of calcium ions (Ca2+) via these channels. By reducing the post-synaptic excitability and modulating the release of excitatory neurotransmitters, Gabapentin can decrease the level of neuronal excitability. Moreover, Gabapentin is believed to increase the concentration of GABA in the brain, possibly by blocking excitatory neurotransmission [52,53,54,55]. About Gabapentin, two articles were found to have evaluated cravings, showing a benefit superior to that of the placebo, and in one of them, there was the maintenance of abstinence, while the other article did not evaluate abstinence [14,47]. An important fact is that Gabapentin enacarbyl extended release was used in one study, which had negative results in an attempt to reduce the cravings and promote abstinence [13]. Cravings were recognized for the first time by Jellinek and colleagues in 1955 as a central component of alcohol dependence syndrome [2].
Psychotherapy is a critical and essential part of alcohol detox and recovery. A home-based alcohol rehab service may provide both a therapist and a doctor to manage the detox and recovery phase of overcoming herbs to curb alcohol cravings alcohol abuse. There is now an effort to use noribogaine at very low dosages in a topical cream. For now, this drug should not be considered for alcohol detox, even though it is a natural plant product.
Side Effects and Safety
Fifty-one percent of adults over the age of 18 and 56% of those age 18–44, are current regular drinkers (Schiller et al., 2012). Thirty percent of current drinkers report drinking excessively (Naimi et al., 2003) and 92% of U.S. adults who drink excessively report binge drinking in the past 30 days (Town et al., 2006). Current use was defined as at least one drink in the past 30 days while binge use includes drinking five or more drinks per day. Some evidence suggests kudzu root may help with liver damage, while other preliminary evidence suggests it may cause liver injury in certain cases. Scientists need to do more research on the effects of kudzu root in humans to investigate these effects in the liver.
If you intend to use kudzu to battle an existing cardiovascular condition and you already take medication for it, do not take it without your doctor’s supervision, as kudzu can cause side effects and interact adversely with other drugs. Kudzu may help by reducing the urge to consume alcohol, making it easier to control cravings. This reduction in alcohol consumption can be particularly beneficial during the early stages of recovery when cravings are intense. Of the 60 articles, 47 assessed both the outcomes of cravings reduction and abstinence.